Apparatus for bending tubing

ABSTRACT

Tube bending apparatus which includes a device for uncoiling tubing from a reel and for directing the free end of the tubing into a cutter and over a bend head. The cutter severs the tubing into a selected length, after which the bend head causes the tubing to be bent. A stripper serves thereafter to deposit the bent tubing into a bin.

United States Patent Hillegas et al.

Dec. 2, 1975 APPARATUS FOR BENDING TUBING [75] Inventors: Danny H. Hillegas, Stevensville;

Douglas D. Miller, Galien; John F. Varga, Harbert, all of Mich.

[73] Assignee: Weldun Tool & Engineering Co.,

Bridgman, Mich.

[221 Filed: Nov. 29, 1973 [21] Appl. No.1 420,304

[52] U.S. Cl. 72/298; 242/131; 242/156; 72/294; 72/307; 72/321; 72/324; 72/335; 72/387 [51] Int. Cl. B21D 7/02; B21F 1/00 [58] Field of Search ..72/4,30,157,158, 159, 72/215-217, 219, 298, 305-307, 310, 318, 294, 335, 338, 389, 321, 322,149, 387; 242/129.6,131, 156

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 828,338 8/1906 Reynolds 72/157 2,218,352 10/1940 Fischer 242/156 x 2,400,739 5/1946 Burge 242/156 x 2,482,617 9/194'9 Green 72 321 3,147,792 9/1964 1161mm 72/157 x 3,299,681 1/1967 Hautau 72 157 3,323,752 6/1967 Kurtz 61 ill. 242 156 X 3,568,488 3/1971 Franks 72 68 3,621,697 11/1971 Martinko 72/219 Primary ExaminerC. W. Lanham Assistant Examiner-D. M. Gurley Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Oltsch & Knoblock [57] ABSTRACT Tube bending apparatus which includes a device for uncoiling tubing from a reel and for directing the free end of the tubing into a cutter and over a bend head. The cutter severs the tubing into a selected length, after which the bend head causes the tubing to be bent. A stripper serves thereafter to deposit the bent tubing into a bin,

5 Claims, 22 Drawing Figures U.S. P af ent 2,1975 S heet3 of 10 3,922,901 I Sheet 4 of 10 U.S. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 US. Patent Dec.2, 1975 SheetSof 10 3,922,901

US. Patent Dec.2,1 975 Sheet7 of 10 v 3,922,901

Patent Dec. 2,1975 she'ts f 10 1 I v 3,922,901 v US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet9of 10 3,922,901 I 1: N v 1% 3 NQ US. Patent Dec.2, 1975 Sheet 10 of 10 3,922,901

APPARATUS FOR BENDING TUBING SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to apparatus for bending tubular material and has specific reference to improvements to such apparatus.

The apparatus of this invention includes a traction device for uncoiling tubing from a reel and for directing the tubing through a cutter and over a table which supports a shiftable bend head. The bend head includes means for clamping the free end of the tubular material to allow the cutter to sever the material into a selected length. After the material is severed into a selected length, the bend head pivots causing the tubular material to be formed into a predetermined bend. After bending, the clamp means releases the tubular material to permit a stripper means to urge the material into a bin or similar depository. Means are provided for shifting the table and its supported bend head to permit tubular material of varying diameters to be bent with a minimum of apparatus down time. Additionally, braking means is provided for the reel of tubular material and, in association with the tube bending operation, serves to regulate the rotation of the reel as the tubular material is pulled therefrom and severed into a selected length prior to bending. The apparatus may be adapted to receive a plurality of lines of tubular material pulled from a plurality of reels, with each such line of material being individually severed into a selected length and bent. Means are further provided, when a plurality of lines of tubular material are being bent, to lock out or isolate one or more lines so as to allow the replenishment of the tubular material without affecting the cutting and bending of the remaining lines of material.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide apparatus which is for bending tubular material and which is adapted to accommodate tubular material of varying outer diameters.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus which is for bending tubularmaterial and which will simultaneously bend a plurality of tubular material sections each cut to a selected length.

Still another object of this invention is to provide apparatus for uncoiling tubular material from a reel, cutting said tubular material to a selected length in a substantially burr-free operation, and bending said out tubular material into a selected configuration.

Still another object of this invention is to provide apparatus for bending multiple sections of tubular material of selected length in a rapid manner.

Still another object of this invention is to provide apparatus which is for bending tubular material and which is of simple and reliable operation.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent upon a reading of the inventions description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of this invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tube bending apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a section of tubing shown in its bent form.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are each fragmentary sectional views which when viewed jointly depict the apparatus 2 of FIG. 1 taken along lines 3A-3A and 3B-3B thereof.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary top plan view seen from line 4-4 of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of the lock-out system of the apparatus seen from line 5-5 of FIG. 38.

FIG. 6 is a detailed view of that portion of the tube bending apparatus enclosed in broken line 6 of FIG. 33.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are fragmentary views of the apparatus in FIG. 6, but shown in sequential operative form.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged detailed view of that portion of the tube bending apparatus enclosed in broken line 9 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a detailed view of that portion of the apparatus in FIG. 9 but with parts thereof shown in an alternative locating position. v

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 12-12 of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary sectional view showing parts of the apparatus of FIG. 11 in still another alternative locating position.

FIG. 14 is a detailed fragmentary sectional view taken along line 14-14 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view taken along line 15-15 of FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary sectional view of the apparatus as seen in FIG. 3A but with the bend head parts thereof shifted from the broken line position to the solid line position to cause bending of the tube held thereby.

FIG. 17 is a detailed view of the apparatus as seen along line 17-17 of FIG. 16 with the bend head in its bending operative position and with portions of the apparatus broken away for purposes of illustration.

FIG. 18 is a detailed side view of a reel of tubing shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 19 is an edge view of the reel of FIG. 18 shown with portions thereof broken away for purposes of illustration.

FIG. 20 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 20-20 of FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is a sectional view taken along line 21-21 of FIG. 20.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The preferred embodiment illustrated is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. It is chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its application and practical use to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention.

The apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 includes five interrelated cooperating operating sections by which tubular material 10 coiled upon reels 12 is formed into bent, substantially burr-free hairpin configured tubing 14, illustrated in FIG. 2, which is suitable for use in refrigeration and other types of tube application. The operative sections of the apparatus in FIG. 1 are: reel supply section 16, feed section 18, cutter section 20, bend section 22, and stripper section 24. A general description of each of the sections of the apparatus of this invention follows.

REEL SUPPLY SECTION Reel supply section 16 includes a plurality of stanchions 26. A transverse arm assembly 28 is pivotally supported by each stanchion 26. Each arm assembly 28 is rotatable in 180 increments about a vertical pivot axis and is retained in selected tube feed-out positions by means of a releasable lock mechanism 30. Each arm 31 of arm assembly 28 is journaled and is adapted to lockingly support a reel 12 having tubular material coiled thereabout. When the tubular material on a reel 12 becomes exhausted during the bending operation, the lock mechanism 30 associated with the supporting arm assembly need only be released and the arm assembly rotated 180 to thereby locate the reel 12 supported upon the remaining arm 31 of the arm assembly in position to have its tubular material fed into the bending apparatus. Each stanchion 26 carries an upright member 34 which projects above its arm assembly 28 and which carries a brake mechanism 36. Brake mechanism 36 is located at the operative side of the arm assembly and includes a solenoid 38 to which is connected a pad of frictional brake material 40. Brake mechanism 36 is positioned so that upon actuation of solenoid 38 the brake pad 40, which is connected to the plunger of the solenoid, is urged into frictional contact with a disk 42 secured to each arm 31 of the arm assembly. Each disk 42 will rotate with the reel 12 locked on the arm 31 and when brake pad 40 is caused to contact the disk, a braking action will be applied to the rotative movement of the reel. The number of stanchions 26 and associated arm assemblies 28 will depend upon the capacity of the tube bending apparatus. In the illustrated embodiment, the apparatus is designed to accommodate seven lines of tubular material and to bend seven sections of material at one time. Therefore, reel supply section 16 will include seven stanchions 26, each adapted to support two reels 12, with no more than seven of the reels being in operation at any one time.

FEED SECTION Feed section 18 is supported upon apparatus frame 44 and is utilized to pull the tubular material 10 from reels 12 and to feed the material through the cutter section 20 and into the bend section 22 of the apparatus. The precise construction of the component parts forming feed section 18 can vary. In one embodiment of the bending apparatus, feed section 18 included a plurality of pairs of opposing upper and lower aligned endless drive belts which were power driven by a suitable motor source. The feed end of the tubular material 10 from each of the operative reels 12 was fed between opposing drive belts with the belts clamping the tubular material and urging the material first through a straightening device 46 which is preferably located just forwardly of the feed section, then through the cutter section 20 and into the bend section 22 of the apparatus. The drive for each pair of opposing drive belts enabled the belts to be reverse driven to place the tubular material 10 in tension at the time of cutting for reasons later to be explained.

CUTTER SECTION Cutter section 20 is located adjacently rearwardly of feed section 18 and serves to sever the tubular material 10 which has been pulled from reels 12 and straightened by tube straightener 46 into selected lengths. The cutter section includes a plurality of cutter units 48, the

number of which equals the number of lines of tubular material being fed into bend section 22 by feed section 18. Each cutter unit, specifically defined in US. Pat. No. 3,772,945, includes a disk-type cutter 49 which is caused to rotate about a longitudinal axis along which the free end of the tubular material 10 is fed and which upon such rotation shifts radially inwardly relative to such axis into supported contact with the tubular material causing progressive circumferential cutting of the material. After the tubular material is cut into a selected length, the cutter disk shifts radially outwardly in preparation for the next cutting operation. In the illustrated embodiment, there are seven such cutter units 48, with the cutter disk of each unit being rotated by means of a drive belt 50 which is driven by an electric drive motor 52.

BEND SECTION Bend section 22 of the apparatus is located adjacently rearwardly of cutter section 20 and, like the cutter section, is supported upon frame 44. Frame 44 includes uprights 54 which support a fixed transverse bed member 56. A table 58 is supported by bed member 56 and is shiftable relative to the bed member both vertically and horizontally. A bend head, designated generally by the reference numeral 60, is carried by table 58 and serves to bend or form the sections of tubular material which have previously been cut to selected lengths. Bend head 60 includes a plurality of bend stations 62 which are of like construction and which are equal in number to the lines of tubular material 10 being fed into the bend apparatus. Each bend station 62 includes a bend block 64, a clamp block 66, and a drag block 68. In each bend station, drag block 68 is fixed in position relative to supporting table 58. Bend block 64 and clamp block 66 are carried upon a pivoted frame 70 which is journaled at its opposite ends 72 in bearing blocks 74 carried by table 58 as can be seen in FIG. 17.

In FIGS. 3A and 16, bend head 60 is shown in its two operative positions. In FIG. 3A the bend head is in its receiving position in preparation to receive the tubular material as the material is fed through cutter section 20. When the bend head is in its receiving position,

bend block 64 and clamp block 66 are positioned adjacently forwardly, or in the direction of feed section 18, of the drag block 68 of each bend station 62 with the bend block being positioned directly over the clamp block. In FIG. 16, the bend head is shown in its bend position. Blocks 64, 66 and 68 of each bend station 62 have a plurality of parallel grooves 76 formed therein. Grooves 76 parallel the direction of advancement of the tubular material through the bending apparatus. There are three grooves formed in each of the blocks. Each groove 76A in the drag blocks is vertically aligned with a groove 768 in the clamp block and a groove 76C in the bend block to form a set of grooves of equal radii to accommodate tubular material of a particular diametrical size. Each of the three sets of grooves in the drag, clamp and bend blocks of each bend station 62 may be of varying sized radii so as to accommodate tubular material of three different diameters. Additionally, each of the grooves 76 for a particular set of bend, clamp, and drag blocks is located at a different height from table 58 so that each such set of grooves may not only accommodate tubular material of different diameters but also will serve to form the material into bends of varying radii.

In FIGS. 16 and 17, bend head 60 is shown in its bend position with clamp block 66 and bend .block 64 of each bend station being positioned over the drag block 68 of the station. It is to be noted that while grooves 76A in each drag block 68 and grooves 768 in-each clamp block 66 are formed in one side only of the blocks, the grooves 76C in each bend block 64 extend on both sides of the block and around the forward edge thereof in continuous form. Each clamp block 66 of the bend stations 62 is operatively associated with a hydraulic power cylinder 78 which causes the clamp block to shift both toward and away from bend block 64 between a tube clamp position and a tube release position.

A large gear 80 is keyed or otherwise secured to each end 72 of frame 70 and meshes with a rack gear 82. Each gear 82 is supported upon table 58 and is shiftable longitudinally relative to the table by means of a power cylinder 84 which is secured to the table. Actuation of power cylinders 84 causes shiftable movement of the rack gears 82 under gears 80 which rotate and cause bend head 60 to pivot about a horizontal axis defined by frame ends 72 between its receiving position shown in FIG. 3A and its bend position shown in FIG. 16. Two sets of guide tubes 86 and 88 are carried by bend head 60 and are positioned so as to be located between cutter section and bend stations 62 when the bend head is in its receiving position. The number of guide tubes 88 and 86 in each guide tube set will equal the number of lines of tubular material being fed into the bending apparatus, which in the illustrated embodiment is seven. Each guide tube 86 is aligned with a guide tube 88 which in turn is aligned with the longitudinal axis of a cutter unit 48 in cutter section 20. Guide tubes 86 and 88 are retained in position by clamp members 90 and are seated in grooves 91 formed within the clamp members in alignment with particular sets of grooves 76 formed by the guide, clamp and bend blocks of bend stations 62. During movement of the bend head 60 between its receiving and bend positions, guide tubes 86 and 88 will shift between the broken line and solid line positions shown in FIG. 16. Posts 92 which project upwardly from table 58 serve as limit stops for bend head 60 as the head shifts between its receiving and bend positions.

As mentioned previously, table 58 and supported bend head 60 are shiftable both vertically and horizontally relative to bed member 56 of the bending apparatus. This is accomplished by means of a lift 94 which is supported by frame 54 and which abuts the bottom of table 58 and by means of a turn handle 96 which is located at one side of frame 44 at a level of table 58 and which is journaled to the apparatus frame. Handle 96 includes a threaded shaft 98 which rotates with the handle and which has one end threaded into a block 100 secured to table 58. Rotation of handle 96 causes block 100 to shift longitudinally along shaft 98 and table 58 to shift laterally or horizontally over bed member 56.

Stripper Section 6 precise manner of operation of stripper section 24 and its related components will become more apparent in the following operational description of the bending apparatus.

Method of Operation Reels 12 of the tubular material 10 of a selected diameter are placed upon arms 31 of arm assemblies 28 of the reel supply section 16 and are clamped to the arms for rotation. Assuming all seven lines of the bending apparatus are to be utilized, the free ends of the seven reels of tubular material 10 located at the operative side of stanchions 26 are fed first through tube straightener 46, then through feed section 18 where the drive mechanism of the feed section makes driving contact with the tubular material, and lastly through cutter units 48. At this time cutter units 48, through operation of drive motor 52, are actuated to square the ends of tubular material 10 in preparation of the bending operation.

With bend head 60 in its receiving position, table 58 is now shifted horizontally and vertically relative to frame 44 of the bending apparatus so as to position a particular set of grooves 76 at each bend station 62 of sufficient size to accommodate tubing 10 in alignment with the longitudinal axis of a cutter unit 48. This is accomplished by first loosening clamp bolts 130 which are threaded through blocks 132 forming a part of frame 44 and abutted against table 58. Lift 94 is then actuated to raise table 58 and bend head 60 from supported contact relative to bed member 56 and to vertically align the selected sets of grooves 76 with the longitudinal axes of cutter units 48. Handle 96 is turned to laterally shift table 58 which slides over lift 94 and to horizontally align the selected sets of grooves 76 with the cutter units. To assist in this alignment procedure, table 58 is provided at each of its side edges with two circular openings 104 which are longitudinally as well as laterally offset. Bed member 56 of frame 44 is provided with three circular openings 106, two of which are laterally aligned with one of the table openings 104 and the remaining opening 106 of which is laterally aligned with the remaining opening 104 in table 58 at each of its side edges. The arrangement and locale of openings 104 and 106 can best be seen in FIGS. 9-l3. A locating pin 108 fits snugly into selected aligned openings 104 and 106 at each of the side edges of table 58 to fixedly locate a selected set of grooves 76 of each bend station 62 in alignment with the longitudinal axis of a cutter unit 48. In the illustrated embodiment as depicted in FIGS. 4 and 17, the central sets of grooves 76, designated by the reference numeral 110, are aligned with the longitudinal axes of, cutter units 48 and, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, are so fixed in position by having pins 108 received snugly within aligned open- .ings 104 and 106. When the. set 111 of grooves 76 located directly to the right, as viewed in FIG. 4, of the aforenoted aligned set of grooves is to be placed in alignment with a cutter unit 48, pins 108 will be received within those aligned openings 104 and 106 as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. When the set 113 of grooves 76 to the left of groove set 110 as seen in FIG. 4 is aligned with the cutter unit, pins 108 will extend through the aligned set of openings 104 and 106 as shown in FIG. 13, which is representative of a sectional view taken along line 1212 of FIG. 11 but with table 58 shifted to the right as viewed in the figure.

As table 58 is shifted laterally relative to frame 44 to horizontally align specific sets of grooves 76 in bend head 62 with cutter units 48, the table must also be raised relative to the frame to vertically align those grooves 76A in drag blocks 68 with the longitudinal axes of the cutter units since the bend radius for the tubular material varies, depending upon which set of grooves 76 is being utilized in the bending operation. it is for this reason that shims 112 of selected thickness are placed between table 58 and bed member 56 of the frame 4-4. After locating pins 108 have been inserted into selected aligned openings 106 and 104 of the table and underlying bed member of the frame 14 and a selected set of shims 112 have been inserted between the table and the bed member, thereby aligning selected sets of grooves '76 in bend stations 62 with cutter units 23, lift 94 is retracted to allow the table to lower and upon the shims, and bolts 130 are tightened to clamp the shims and table against the bed member. Guide tubes 88 and 86 are also aligned by the loosening of clamp members 90 and the removal and reinsertion of the guide tubes into selected grooves 91 in the bend head to cause the guide tubes to be aligned with the cutter units.

The drive for feed section 18 is now started causing each. or" the individual lines of tubular material to be 1 iled from its reel 12 and urged through straightener 46, a cutter unit 48 and into a guide tube 83 with bend head 611 in its receiving position. Continued actuation of feed section 18 causes the free end of each line of tubular material 10 to pass through aligned guide tubes and 236, between grooves 761% and 7613 of the clamp and bend blocks with the clamp block in its release position and across aligned groove 76A in the drag block of a bend station 62 and then over the end of a mandrel rod 118. Each mandrel rod 118, as best shown in FIGS; 68, extends through a hollow stripper rod 102. The opposite end of each mandrel rod 11% extends from its accommodating stripper rod 102 and is anchored to a frame supported member 1211 which is seen in FIGS. 313 and 6. The free end of each line of tubular material 111 is continuously urged by feed section 18 into abutting contact with the mandrel-surrounding stripper rod 162, as illustrated in FIG. 7, causing rod 102 to be urged rearwardly tripping a switch 122 which causes a reduction in speed of the drive of feed section 18 for hat particular line of tubular material. The free end of the stripper tubular material continues to be urged rearwardly until abutting rod 1112 contacts a switch 124 and reaches its limit position which causes the tubular member to stop with the drive in the feed section frictionally sliding over that particular line of tubular material. After all switches 124 have been contacted and tripped with respect to each of the seven lines of the tubular material, the drive in feed section 18 is halted. At this moment power cylinders 78 associated with clamp blocks 66 are actuated to cause the clamp blocks to be urged upwardly into their clamp position to secure each line of tubular material 10 within its associated bend station 62 between the clamp block 66 and bend block 64 thereof.

When the lines of tubular material 111 have been clamped between their respective clamp and bend blocks, the drive in feed section 18 is reversed causing the sections of each line of tubular material 10 to be placed in tension between its bend station 62 and feed section 18. Immediately after the lines of tubular material are placed in tension, the cutters in cutter units 48 advance to sever the tubular material 10. By placing the tubular material intension at the cutter units, the tubular material is fractured before the cutter advances entirely through the side wall of the material, thus creating substantially burr-free end edges of the severed sections of material. The cutting units 48 then are retracted or moved forwardly and the drive of feed section 18 stopped. Once the cutter units are retracted and the drive to the feed section halted, bend head shifts from its receiving position shown in broken lines into its bend position shown in solid lines in FIG. 16 with each of the clamp blocks 66 serving to retain the severed sections of tubular material designated by the reference numeral 14 in a fixed position relative to its as sociated bend block 6 1 to allow bending of the tubing. With bend head 60 in its bend position, clamp blocks 66 are shifted into their release positions upon actuation of cylinders 78 and stripper rods 102 are urged forwardly over mandrel rods 118 and toward the bend head as a unit through the actuation of a power cylinder 125, causing the bent tubing 14 to be pushed off of the mandrels and into a bin 126. After the bent tubing 14 has been stripped from mandrel rods 118, the stripper rods 1192 are retracted by cylinder and positioned as seen in FIG. 6 in preparation for the next bending cycle of the apparatus.

Once stripper rods 1112 are in their retracted positions and bent tubing 14 deposited in bin 126, the bend head rotates from its bend position shown in FIG. 16 into its receiving position shown in FIG. 3A through the actuation of power cylinders 84. With bend head 60 in its receiving position, the drive of feed section 18 is again actuated to cause tubular material 111 to be fed through guides 88 and $6 and between bend blocks 64 and clamp blocks 66 which are in their release positions and over drag blocks 68 of the bend stations and into contact with stripper rods 102 which are forced rearwardly as the tubular material advances. The stopping and reversal of the drive of feed section 18, the cutting of the tubular material by cutter units 48 and the bending movement of bend head 60 are again repeated. It is anticipated that with seven feed lines of tubular material 111, fifty-six bent tubes 14 can be formed for each minute of operation of the apparatus.

As each line of tubular member 10 contacts its stripper rod 102 and urges the rod rearwardly into contact with switch 124 as shown in FIG. 8, solenoid 38 associated with the reel 32 from which the tubular material is being pulled is activated to cause brake pad 40 to frictionally contact disk 42 and stop arm 31 and the supported reel from rotating. As each stripper rod 1112 is urged forwardly at the completion of the bending operation to strip the bent tubing 14 from mandrel rods 1118, switch 124 is released causing deactivation of the solenoid and a freeing of arm assembly arms 31 and associated reel for rotation at the beginning of the next bending cycle as additional tubular material is fed into the apparatus. The braking of each reel 32 just prior to tube sizing and cut-off is necessary to prevent weakening of the tube by stretching and friction welding which occurs if the reel were permitted to rotate after termination of the drive of feed section 18. The reels of tubular material 10 weigh several hundred pounds. and the inertial force created by reel rotation, without any braking action. causes an uncoiling and loosening of the coiled tubing about the reel after switch 124 is tripped and the drive of feed section 18 is halted. At the start of the next bending cycle the operation of feed section 18 takes up such slack in the uncoiled and loosened tubing which causes coils of the tubular material to rub against one another, creating tube abrasion and even spot welding and a further stretching of the tubular material, all of which tends to weaken the material. In other constructions of this invention, the actuating or switch mechanism to activate each solenoid 38 of the reel brake system could be associated with the cutoff mechanism for the drive of feed section 18 or a similar type component of the bending apparatus.

Associated with and constituting a part of the bending apparatus of this invention is a lock-out device 128 consisting of a plurality of switches 129, each electrically associated with one line of tubular material being fed into the apparatus. Each switch 129, when manually turned, serves to deactivate all operations upon the line of material from feed section 18 through and including stripper section 24. Thus, lock-out device 128 allows the operator of the bending apparatus to deactivate one or more of the seven lines of tubular material feeding into the apparatus, while not affecting the operations upon the remaining lines of material.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the details above given but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for bending lengths of tubular material, said apparatus comprising a frame, a table supported upon said frame for lateral movement relative to said frame and to the path of endwise advancement of said tubular material into said apparatus, a bend head carried by said table and including a component thereof pivotal relative to the table about a horizontal pivot axis extending transversely to said path of material advancement, said bend head including a plurality of bend stations located side by side and extending across said table, each bend station including a bend block and a clamp block and a drag block, the bend and clamp blocks of said bend stations forming a part of said bend head component, each of said bend station blocks having at least two tube conforming grooves therein paralleling said path of material advancement, for each bend station the clamp block thereof is located at one end of the drag block and under the bend block wherein each groove in the clamp block is in an opposed relationship with a groove in the bend block and is aligned with a groove in the drag block, means for shifting said clamp block of each station relative to the bend block thereof to clamp said material between the bend and clamp blocks within a selected pair of said opposed grooves, each pair of opposed clamp and bend block grooves and aligned drag block groove in a bend 10 tion is unitarially shifted into alignment with said path of material advancement to accommodate tubular material of a given outer diametrical size.

2. The bending apparatus of claim 1 wherein said table shifting means includes lift means extending to said table for shifting the weight of said table from said frame.

3. The bending apparatus of claim 2 wherein each groove set varies in horizontal orientation relative to said frame to accommodate bending of tubular material about varying radii.

4. The bending apparatus of claim 1 and a support arm means for journaling a reel of said tubular material in coiled form, said material having a free endportion, feed means for urging said free end portion along said path of material advancement and across said drag block, brake means associated with said support arm means for stopping rotative movement of said reel about said support arm means, means for actuating said brake means after said material is fed by said feed means across said drag block and before said bending pivotal movement of said bend head.

5. Apparatus for bending lengths of tubular material, said apparatus comprising a frame, a table supported upon said frame for lateral movement relative to said frame and to the path of endwise advancement of said tubular material into said apparatus, a bend head carried by said table and including a component thereof pivotal relative to the table about a horizontal pivot axis extending transversely to said path of material advancement, said bend head including a plurality of bend stations located side by side and extending across said table, each bend station including a bend block and a clamp block and a drag block, the bend and clamp blocks of said bend stations forming a part of said bend head component, each of said bend station blocks having at least two tube conforming grooves therein paralleling said path of material advancement, for each bend station the clamp block thereof is located at one end of the drag block and under the bend block wherein each groove in the clamp block is in an opposed relationship with a groove in the bend block and is aligned with a groove in the drag block, means for shifting said clamp block of each station relative to the bend block thereof to clamp said material between the bend and clamp blocks within a selected pair of said opposed grooves, each pair of opposed clamp and bend block grooves and aligned drag block groove in a bend station constituting a groove set and being sized to accommodate tubular material having a specific outer diameter, means for pivoting said bend head component about its pivot axis with said tubular material clamped between the clamp and bend blocks of each bend station within a selected groove set thereof to cause the clamp and bend blocks to be positioned over the drag block and to bend said material, and means for shifting said table horizontally relative to said frame wherein a selected groove set of each bend station is unitarially shifted into alignment with said path of material advancement to accommodate tubular material of a given outer diametrical size. 

1. Apparatus for bending lengths of tubular material, said apparatus comprising a frame, a table supported upon said frame for lateral movement relative to said frame and to the path of endwise advancement of said tubular material into said apparatus, a bend head carried by said table and including a component thereof pivotal relative to the table about a horizontal pivot axis extending transversely to said path of material advancement, said bend head including a plurality of bend stations located side by side and extending across said table, each bend station including a bend block and a clamp block and a drag block, the bend and clamp blocks of said bend stations forming a part of said bend head component, each of said bend station blocks having at least two tube conforming grooves therein paralleling said path of material advancement, for each bend station the clamp block thereof is located at one end of the drag block and under the bend block wherein each groove in the clamp block is in an opposed relationship with a groove in the bend block and is aligned with a groove in the drag block, means for shifting said clamp block of each station relative to the bend block thereof to clamp said material between the bend and clamp blocks within a selected pair of said opposed grooves, each pair of opposed clamp and bend block grooves and aligned drag block groove in a bend station constituting a groove set and being sized to accommodate tubular material having a specific outer diameter, means for pivoting said bend head component about its pivot axis with said tubular material clamped between the clamp and bend blocks of each bend station within a selected groove set thereof to cause the clamp and bend blocks to be positioned over the drag block and to bend said material, and means for shifting said table vertically and horizontally relative to said frame wherein a selected groove set of each bend station is unitarially shifted into alignment with said path of material advancement to accommodate tubular material of a given outer diametrical size.
 2. The bending apParatus of claim 1 wherein said table shifting means includes lift means extending to said table for shifting the weight of said table from said frame.
 3. The bending apparatus of claim 2 wherein each groove set varies in horizontal orientation relative to said frame to accommodate bending of tubular material about varying radii.
 4. The bending apparatus of claim 1 and a support arm means for journaling a reel of said tubular material in coiled form, said material having a free end portion, feed means for urging said free end portion along said path of material advancement and across said drag block, brake means associated with said support arm means for stopping rotative movement of said reel about said support arm means, means for actuating said brake means after said material is fed by said feed means across said drag block and before said bending pivotal movement of said bend head.
 5. Apparatus for bending lengths of tubular material, said apparatus comprising a frame, a table supported upon said frame for lateral movement relative to said frame and to the path of endwise advancement of said tubular material into said apparatus, a bend head carried by said table and including a component thereof pivotal relative to the table about a horizontal pivot axis extending transversely to said path of material advancement, said bend head including a plurality of bend stations located side by side and extending across said table, each bend station including a bend block and a clamp block and a drag block, the bend and clamp blocks of said bend stations forming a part of said bend head component, each of said bend station blocks having at least two tube conforming grooves therein paralleling said path of material advancement, for each bend station the clamp block thereof is located at one end of the drag block and under the bend block wherein each groove in the clamp block is in an opposed relationship with a groove in the bend block and is aligned with a groove in the drag block, means for shifting said clamp block of each station relative to the bend block thereof to clamp said material between the bend and clamp blocks within a selected pair of said opposed grooves, each pair of opposed clamp and bend block grooves and aligned drag block groove in a bend station constituting a groove set and being sized to accommodate tubular material having a specific outer diameter, means for pivoting said bend head component about its pivot axis with said tubular material clamped between the clamp and bend blocks of each bend station within a selected groove set thereof to cause the clamp and bend blocks to be positioned over the drag block and to bend said material, and means for shifting said table horizontally relative to said frame wherein a selected groove set of each bend station is unitarially shifted into alignment with said path of material advancement to accommodate tubular material of a given outer diametrical size. 